1874 ADDRESS AT ABERDEEN 125 



mind ; its tributary streams flow from both ; through its 

 waters, as yet unfurrowed by the keel of any Columbus, lies 

 the road, if such there be, from the one to the other ; far 

 away from that North-west Passage of mere speculation, 

 in which so many brave souls have been hopelessly 

 frozen up. 



Of the address he writes to his wife, February 

 27: 



I have just come back from the hall in which the 

 address was delivered, somewhat tired. The hall was 

 very large, and contained, I suppose, a couple of thousand 

 people, and the students made a terrific row at intervals, 

 though they were quiet enough at times. As the address 

 took me an hour and a half to deliver, and my voice has 

 been very shaky ever since I have been here, I did not 

 dare to put too much strain upon it, and I suspect that 

 the people at the end of the hall could have heard very 

 little. However, on the whole, it went off better than 

 I expected. 



And to Professor Baynes : 



I am very glad you liked my address. The students 

 were abnormally quiet for the first half-hour, and then 

 made up for their reticence by a regular charivari for 

 the rest of the time. However, I was consoled by 

 hearing that they were much quieter than usual. 



Dr. John Muir's appreciation is worth having. It 

 did not occur to me that what I had to say would 

 interest people out of Britain, but to my surprise I had 

 an application from a German for permission to translate 

 the address the other day. 



Again to his wife, March 1 : 



... I was considerably tired after my screed on 

 Friday, but Bain and I took a long walk, and I was 



